'Little Women' review not addressed properly as an opera\nYour opera reviewer, Gabriel Lewin, is an idiot ("'Little Women' provides segue to stardom," Feb. 4). Neither the French nor Italian opera traditions contain lasting works that were written as a star vehicle for a performer; they were composed for the entertainment of an audience. No performer was able to make significant changes in a role without risking the wrath of the public, which knew what to expect.\nAnd what is the difference between a "specific musical motif" and one that is not specific? I doubt your reviewer (or whoever edited his review) knows. Also, Adamo did not "take" a crack at the opera world's use of supertitles, he made a crack at them.\nFurthermore, while sending a drama student to review an opera may seem like a good idea, all it leads to is references to the theatrical elements of the production. There are some musical elements that are in much debate in the music/operatic world in 'Little Women' that, if your reviewer were competent and qualified, would know about and comment on. Yes, 'Little Women' would work as a theater piece, but its operatic qualities were what needed to be addressed.\nMarc Gellhoed\nGraduate Student
Halcom's article right on target; age should be lowered\nI would just like to congratulate Kenneth Halcom on his opinion column ("What is the true age of an adult?" Feb. 12). He hit the nail on the head and brought up a very good point. We send our young men and women to all regions of the world to protect us and our beliefs, yet don't allow them to relax with a drink before they leave. For years, Michigan had a drinking age of 18, and while the state received many "visitors" from Indiana, Michigan found that the majority of the drinkers were responsible about it, and only changed the law when forced by the federal government. Something should be done by our government about rethinking the age of the people they label as "adult."\nAdrianna Fettinger\nSophomore
Safety plays a major role in the debate surrounding I-69\nWhile Jim Harper did a nice job of presenting several important issues surrounding the I-69 debate ("The destruction of rural Indiana," Feb. 8), he left out the most vital issue: SAFETY. Those who have made the trip from Bloomington to Evansville are all too familiar with fear. While it is certainly a pretty drive through rural southwest Indiana, the lack of a major interstate leaves windy two-lane roads, discrete sharp turns and abrupt stops for the two and a half hour commute.\nAccording to Congressman John Hostettler (R-Ind.), the expansion of I-69 would prevent 60 deaths and over 9,500 auto collisions in southwest Indiana alone over a 30-year period.\nWhile economics, the environment and community issues are all relevant to the evaluation of expanding I-69, safety must come first. We must build I-69 through Southwest Indiana for the safety of our residents and others traveling in our state.\nAmanda Izsak\nSenior
Out-of-staters should take up walking\nEvery person at some time or another has complained about the horrific traffic in Bloomington and, while riding the bus today, I had a revelation that might shed some light on this issue.\nAfter sitting on the bus for 10 minutes on what is normally a 4 or 5 minute ride, I began to look around at all the traffic causing this annoying delay. To my amazement, every car seemed to either have a New York or New Jersey license plate.\nEven more amazing than that is that these East coast vehicles were not your regular Saturn, Ford or Jeep. They were emblazoned with the logos of Audi, Lexus and BMW.\nI'm not sure whether these people live off campus near Target or Chicago, but it's pretty safe to say that these "road hogs" are simply avoiding the inconvenience of public transportation by driving from McNutt to the Union.\nIf public transportation is so awful, and you simply can't bear the fact of riding on a bus with 50 other "peasants," then I say walk.\nCountless times I have seen black Audi's with New Jersey plates pull up to the library, holding up all of traffic nonetheless and let out a little girl with her white headband and grey sweatpants. What's even more amusing is that at the pace that girl walks up the stairs, she should be able to make it across campus in the time it takes to slide the credit card through the machine at Cha Cha.\nThere is no explanation for it, unless, like I said before, you live somewhere miles off-campus. However, I don't think the luxury apartments are out there and if public transportation is too primitive, then any living space less than the Waldorf-Astoria would simply be unacceptable.\nI can see it now, someone sitting in his BMW reading this on his way back from the psychology building to McNutt or Foster saying, "This kid is just mad because his dad can't afford to buy him a car." My father might not be able to buy me a luxury sedan, but just think that after 50 years of hard labor, when you decide to reward yourself with a nice car, you'll be buying the same one daddy bought you when you were 18 years old.\nBrian Rosenzweig\nSophomore
Hickey's attitude callous toward black history\nIn response to Alex Hickey's column ("28 days are 28 too many," Feb. 28), it probably would have been wise to consider that February is Black History Month. Perhaps it is because it is unimportant to you as a white, male student at a majority university, but saying that the 28 days of February are "28 days too many" is a very callous attitude towards what could be a month of vast opportunity for all students at IU. A month to focus on Black American history and the contributions of black people worldwide to society is more than enough to provide insight and entertainment throughout this shortest month of the year. Mr. Hickey, I would hope that by your sophomore year in college you would categorize February by more than Valentine's Day and President's Day. However, all hope is not lost. There are still a few days left. Read about the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment or the controversy surrounding the display of the confederate flag. I challenge you to go further than Malcolm X and hip-hop music. Instead of awaiting Lincoln's birthday with anticipation of sleeping in, discover why he did not want to free blacks from slave labor. I promise you that your pursuit of knowledge of people of color will fill you with a newfound respect for the month of February and for humankind.\nBaindu L. Bayon\nJunior
Chancellor's changes likely to ruin \ncampus, fraternities\nThis letter is in reference to Katie Lombardi's column ("Who should be held accountable?" Feb. 11). The subject you write about is very real and I'm glad to see that someone finally had the courage to state the truth. I feel horrible for Seth Korona's family and friends, but he made the decision to go to that party. He made the decision to drink and he ultimately made the decision to do the keg stand that led to the skull fracture that killed him. Everybody wants somebody to blame and fraternities are an easy target. The sad thing is that Seth could have just as easily died at a friend's apartment doing the same thing. This would have been a tragedy, but not to near the extent it was blown up for the simple fact that it occurred at a fraternity. I am a member of a fraternity here at IU and am sick and tired of people blaming us for the alcohol problem on campus. Granted, fraternities do host many social functions on this campus, but they also do things such as have pledges run security to make sure things are going smoothly and have designated drivers to take people home who have been drinking. Do you think people in the commons who throw parties designate drivers to make sure people make it home alright? The new chancellor believes that alcohol is the devil and that making sanctions more strict is going to make people listen and things are going to get better. The truth is, she is going to ruin this campus by depleting what good fraternities we have left and there are going to be no such things as IU Sing, Dance Marathon and every other major event on campus that is run primarily by fraternity and sorority houses. I just wanted to say thanks and it was nice to see someone actually stand up for the greek system and let people have a little more realization of the situation. I hope to see more columns like this in the future.\nBrett P. Anderson\nSophomore
Piper's column poor argument \nBen Piper's column ("Shays-Meehan bill unnecessary," Feb. 11) is at best a poor argument against the Shays-Meehan bill in the House. In his column, he gives a few reasons why the bill would not fix all of the problems in today's campaign finance system, as the Enron fiasco would not have been prevented and many organizations like the NRA would still retain large amounts of power. On the other hand, Mr. Piper fails to attack many of the most important reasons why reform is needed and he gives no good reason why we shouldn't pass the bill, assuming that the lack of influence of Enron is a good enough reason not to pass the bill.\nHe fails to mention how only eight and a half percent of the so-called "soft money" went to voter registration and building the party, while over 37 percent of the money went to the Issue ads that the bill also bans. Meanwhile, during the 2000 election season, a whopping 86 percent of those issue ads were, in fact, ads devoted to one particular candidate, not devoted to educating the public on differing issues. In fact, 92 percent of those same so-called "party ads" never even mentioned the name of the party they were trying to build. These facts confirm what everyone knows already: The issue ads that are paid for by soft money are nothing more than regular ads with a different name. The Shays-Meehan bill is built on the idea that money getting into politics will cause corruption and removing money will prevent much corruption.\nFinally, just to finish off the last argument against the bill, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled several times before that fighting corruption is a valid reason to sustain a bill and is a goal that is constitutional. These are the reasons why the Shays-Meehan bill is a good idea and why Ben Piper's arguments are very weak.\nJ. Brian Batla\nSenior
Mural in classroom - a questionable \nteaching tactic\nGiven the recent discussions of the Thomas Benton murals I find it fitting that the IDS would champion the cause of freedom of speech. In fact it was this same freedom of speech which saw fit to publish an advertisement extolling racist propaganda last year with the David Horowitz's advertisement. While I appreciate this year's sensitivity to race issues and appreciate your reasons for champing freedom of speech this time for our benefit as a reminder of "his story," I wonder if you grasp the ramifications of the mural in a classroom. It is my belief that the IDS would still champion freedom of speech but would advocate a different policy in regard to the mural and its place in the classroom. \nThe mural is in fact a panel in a larger mural depicting the history of Indiana. While we can question the nature of Benton's perception of history and why certain components were excluded such as Black steel workers in Gary or the presence of the Underground Railroad, we recognize the fact that this is his interpretation and everyone is afforded their right to their perspective and rightly so. While I have some problems with the images in the work I do not advocate the destruction of controversial art. All art is propaganda. I know this and value art for its ability to stir emotions and move people. I do have problems with attempting to interpret the nature of the panel and it's message particularly when the lone panel is not appropriately placed within the entire work. The panel is taken out of context because the University has seen fit to do so. Originally the reasons for doing so could be validated because of the original nature of Woodburn 100. The room was originally an auditorium and not a class. This is of great significance because an auditorium is an appropriate place for art. In a class room, controversial ideas are essential. However, art work which is offensive to the same students that are to be instructed in that classroom is not. I am glad that the University does not want to forget the Ku Klux Klan, but to remind students of it on a daily basis in a classroom where they are trying to learn is a questionable teaching tactic. You don't have to remind me that the ideals of the Ku Klux Klan are here. I can walk down the street or interact with different students or read advertisements and editorials in the IDS that will remind me of the racial insensitivity which exists on this campus. While I am all for teaching moments and believe that as human beings we should never stop learning, the mural belongs in a museum where "the teaching moment" is not at expense of the student body.\nMarshawn Wolley\nPresident, Black Student Union
